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how to disable adobe reader in safari

I am aware there is this thread on basically the same problem How can I regain Preview as my default PDF browser in Safari?.

However my circumstances are a bit different.


One of my content vendors uses FileOpen to lock their PDFs and that is why I even bothered to install adobe (v10.1.4). Thru the install process I was careful not to have adobe become the default viewer by checking all the relevant boxes I saw.


When I go to Finder and doubleclick on a PDF, they are still opened by Preview. Right click->Get Info does show Preview as default viewer.


However in Safari, Adobe has taken over despite in Adobe->Preferences->display pdf in browser is not only unchecked but grayed out. But even though grayed out, right below that checkbox shows Adobe Reader.app is the browser view and I see no way of changing it.


In Library/Internet Plug-ins there are NO pdf plug ins. In fact I have only a single one (picasa).


I am not aware how to get to Username/Library/Internet Plug-ins as the reference thread talks about.


Whatever the solution, I still need adobe working on my machine otherwise I cannot view the content from that one vendor.


Any suggestions? Thanks.


Message was edited by: quatrieme to clarify Adobe->Preferences settings

MacBook Pro, Mac OS X (10.7)

Posted on Jan 29, 2013 7:26 PM

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Question marked as Best reply

Posted on Jan 29, 2013 7:54 PM

From the Safari menu bar, select

Help â–ą Installed Plug-ins

Besides the following, what plugins are listed?

  • iPhotoPhotocast
  • Java
  • QuickTime
  • Shockwave Flash
  • WebKit built-in PDF
28 replies

Jan 29, 2013 8:03 PM in response to Linc Davis

thanks, Linc. interesting suggestion. It shows the following unfortunately. The background: I initially installed adobe reader 11.0.01 but discovered the production version of FileOpen does not work with it. So I uninstalled it and installed 10.1.4 instead. But looks like some parts of it lingers.


Adobe Acrobat NPAPI Plug-in, Version 11.0.01

Adobe® Acrobat® Plug-in for Web Browsers, Version 11.0.01 — from file “AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin”.
application/pdfAcrobat Portable Document Formatpdf
application/vnd.adobe.pdfAcrobat Portable Document Format (Interim)pdf
application/vnd.adobe.pdfxmlAcrobat XML Portable Document Formatpdfxml
application/vnd.adobe.x-marsAcrobat XML Portable Document Format (Interim)mars
application/vnd.adobe.xdp+xmlXML Data Packagexdp
application/vnd.adobe.xfd+xmlFormFlow99 Data Filexfd
application/vnd.adobe.xfdfAcrobat Forms Data Format in XMLxfdf
application/vnd.fdfAcrobat Forms Data Formatfdf

Jan 29, 2013 8:07 PM in response to quatrieme

Back up all data.


Triple-click the line of text below to select it, the copy the selected text to the Clipboard (command-C):


/Library/Internet Plug-ins


In the Finder, select

Go â–ą Go to Folder

from the menu bar, or press the key combination shift-command-G. Paste (command-V) into the text box that opens, then press return.

From the folder that opens, remove any items that have the letters “PDF” in the name. You may be prompted for your login password. Then quit and relaunch Safari, and test.

I've seen an unconfirmed report that the "Silverlight" web plugin distributed by Microsoft can also interfere with PDF display in Safari, so you might need to remove it as well, if applicable.

If you still have the issue, repeat with this line:


~/Library/Internet Plug-ins


If you don’t like the results of this procedure, restore the items from the backup you made before you started. Relaunch Safari again.

Jan 29, 2013 8:18 PM in response to Linc Davis

Beautiful! 🙂


Thanks a lot, Linc. These PDF plug-ins were there:


AdobePDFViewer.plugin

AdobePDFViewerNAPAPI.plugin


Removing them & restarting safari does put Preview back in business. I also verified that opening my vendor's FileOpen-locked PDFs using Right click->Open With->Adobe Reader.app still works.


Thanks a lot for your quick help!

May 13, 2013 12:46 PM in response to Linc Davis

Hi same problem here and I cannot get the command go - go to folder to open up the folder. It is telling me "The folder can't be found"


I checked the internet plug-ins folder on my library and there are only 2 plug-ins listed but are not related.


When I go to help - internet plug-ins in safari the same adobe items are listed as the original author showed.


Help I need my preview back it's killing me! I deleted Reader and what I thought to be all of the associated files.

Jan 10, 2014 2:50 AM in response to quatrieme

There's a simpler workaround that works for me (MacBook Pro), Mavericks and Safari 7.

If you let Safari do its useless display and move the cursor to bottom middle of the screen you get the four icons appear. Click on the third symbol (The one after the expand / reduce size) and - the PDF then opens in Adobe Reader.

Jan 20, 2014 7:00 PM in response to quatrieme

Here is a link to the official Adobe page telling you how to do it. What I found is changing it under get info is not enough. Adobe recommends creating a new folder in your library called disabled Internet plugins. You can read the official adobe page or get to it under preferences in Adobe reader under internet.


http://helpx.adobe.com/acrobat/using/display-pdf-browser-acrobat-xi.html


There is one little hitch, you can't just move the files. You have to move them to the trash first and then move them to that file. If you don't it thinks you just want to make copies.


Beware every time you install adobe reader, it will take over Safari. It has done this for years. The problem that has been mentioned is the two plugins:


AdobePDFViewerNPAPI.plugin

AdobePDFViewer.plugin


In \Library\Internet Plug-ins

how to disable adobe reader in safari

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